Bádsháh-náma, of Muhammad Wáris (Elliot & Dowson, extracts)

1

[When the Emperor set off from Shahjahanabad to chastise the Persians, it was his intention to march on and make no stay until he reached Kabul. * * But afterwards it appeared clear to his far-reaching judgment, that it was very improbable that the Shah of Persia would enter upon a campaign in the winter season, when grain and forage are very difficult to procure in that country (of Kandahar). The Emperor's counsellors also represented that the Shah of Persia had resolved upon this evil enterprise in that infatuation which arises from youth and inexperience. During the winter he would be busy making preparations in Khurasan, and in the spring he would commence operations. In this way the late Shah 'Abbas came up against Kandahar in the reign of the Emperor Jahangir. The severe cold and the heavy snow and rain, together with scarcity of provender for the horses, would be sources of great suffering to the Imperial army; so under all circumstances it was desirable to postpone the march until the Nau-roz. * * So it was resolved to wait the arrival of news from Kandahar. On the 12th Muharram a despatch arrived from the commandant of the fortress, to the effect that on the 10th Zi-l hijja the Shah of Persia had invested the fortress, his evident object being to accomplish this, the first enterprise of his reign, before the spring, when the roads would be open for the advance of the Imperial army.]